Friday, 19 February 2016

Is it 'Doom and Gloom' for the Oakham Property Market?

One of my landlords rang me last week from Stamford Road, after he had spoken to a friend of his. They had been discussing the Oakham property market and neither of them could make their mind up if it was time to either sell or buy property.

If you read the newspapers and the landlord forums on the internet, there is a good slice of doom and gloom, especially with changes in the taxation towards landlords, new legislation on checking tenants and the general uncertainty in the world economic situation.

I will admit there are certain landlords in Rutland who have over exposed themselves in the last few years with high percentage loan to value mortgages. Those mortgages, with their current (yet artificially low) interest rates, will start to suffer, as their modest monthly positive cash flow/profit, i.e. income (rent) less costs (mortgage, fees, tax) will become negative when the tax and mortgage rates rise throughout 2017 and beyond.

It appears to me these landlords seem to have treated the Oakham Buy-to-Let market as a ‘sure bet’ and have not approached this as a business and, as a result, they will suffer as they thought, "Buy a property, rent it out so it covers the mortgage and make a few quid on top".
 
These are just the types of people will now be thinking twice. I see opportunities everywhere in the Buy-to-Let marketplace and will not be stopping.  I am here to stay. It is going to be an exciting year ahead.

Gone are the days when you could buy any old house in Oakham and it would make money.  Yes, in the past, anything in Oakham with four walls and a roof would make you money because since WW2, property prices doubled every seven years … it was like printing money – but not anymore.

True, since February 1997, the average price paid for an Oakham flat/apartment has risen from £41,750 to today’s current average of £115,000 in the town.  An impressive rise of 175% and terraced/town houses have risen in the same time frame, from £40,990 to £148,083, an even better rise of 261%.

However, look back to 2005, and in that year, the average flat was selling for £129,995, meaning our Oakham landlord would have seen a modest drop of 12% and the terraced owner would have seen an increase of 86%, as they were selling for on average £79,617.  Not bad, until you consider inflation.

Since 2005, then inflation, i.e. the cost of living, has increased by 33.4%. That means to retain its value, an Oakham terraced property bought for £79,617 in 2005 needs to be worth £106,184 today. Therefore, our landlord has seen the ‘real’ value of his property increase by 52.6% (i.e. 86% less 33.4% inflation).

The reality is, since around the early 2000’s we haven’t seen anything like the capital growth in property we have seen in the past and it’s not predicted to grow at the rates it has previously done either.

Therefore, it is high time anyone considering investing in property stopped believing the hype and did some serious research using independent investment expertise.

You can still make money buying the right Oakham property at the right price and finding the right tenant. Properties in real terms are 52.6% higher than ten years ago, so investing in Oakham property is not only about capital growth and yield (the return from the rent), it’s also about having a balanced property portfolio that will match what you want from your investment – and what is a ‘balanced property portfolio’?

Well, we discuss such matters in other articles on the Oakham Property Blog ...  check them out in the archive section now. 
 
If you wish to discuss any properties you are considering purchasing, or would like to discuss one you already own, please contact me via david@upp-property.co.uk or call me on 01780 484 554 and I would be happy to help.
 

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